K/D 2 x XML, MJ880 Clone

Originally Posted by bhocewar

Dont be cheap. Those inserts will cost a few bucks...

To be fair the light head is only $29. So how much more of an investment are we looking at here? If it dies you can just grab another cheapo light head. Also it looks like the heatsinking is not as good but how much of an issue Is it really? Is there a good way to measure that?

I did see some people on the blf forums make a heat sink from thick copper wire and solder. Then put it in with a bunch of thermal paste. That may be a budget option

K/D 2 x XML, MJ880 Clone

Let me start with good ones.
-it has indeed XML2 leds
-it has standard Magicshine connector (picture on KD site shows connector from old XML series)
-you get two mounting silicone o-rings and both are small size, so you get a good tension on a handlebar.
-very fast delivery. Less than 3 weeks.

and the bad news
-very poorly packed. Only bubble wrap and standard chinese envelope. But it survived the journey.
-very poor heat transfer design (SSX2 alike). It has slightly different design compare to first version with XMLs.
Does not have leds on stars and inserts but leds are on a custom one piece backplate that fits very loosely.
You can see heat transfer contact area on a picture above. It is only that middle area with some thermal paste on it and some
random contact points at the edges. The main middle wall is thicker compare to old one and if there werent those
huge holes drilled out, but just two small ones for cables, it would have sufficient heat transfer. But now it needs
overhaull!!!! I will make some solid alu inserts to pressfit in those holes and make a bigger contact.
I think that this light is not very good as it is...it is not plug&play, but if you upgrade it, it could be very good.
Driver looks the same.

Tomorrow I will be able to compare brightness between this one and the first XML version.

Well my two light heads showed up. Same issue. What size inserts are you making? It would save me from trying to shove some calipers in there!

K/D 2 x XML, MJ880 Clone

My fasttech optics showed up today. Loose fit. Needs to be raised a mm or 2. I fit them anyway with 15/30 combo just to see how it looks. Beam pattern loses the hot spot. Def more flood. But for now I'll run stock until i feel like messing with it. Comparing against my friends yinding light. That thing is 1/2 the size and same amount of light. With a better beam pattern.

I have the Kaidomain version. Never opened it or addressed the heat dissipation problem - is that something I should do or it'll die on me?

With regards to the beam pattern, I simply cut out a cheap plastic lens (intended to mod some common U2 lamp of larger size) and siliconed it on to one half, like this:

I tried spreading the light from both LEDs but for me this strikes a good balance. Easy, cheap and ugly. But this lamp would still blind people and oncoming traffic so I also added a cap, cut out from a schampoo bottle.

Unfortunately, the cable is complete junk and as you can see the cover is broken already (same goes for the battery pack cable on the other end):

In your minds, what's the easiest way to repair that? Heat shrink tubing would require disassembly - maybe one could just as well switch it out to a new cable all together? I dunno. Just put something glueish on it maybe and see if it sticks?

That has to be the largest lamp hood I have ever seen. With the lamp being mounted as low as it is IMO I would think you could get by with just about a quarter of that. Not to mention that having the entire top of the lamp covered in plastic is going hamper the lamps ability to dissipate heat.

Interesting mounting solution. I like it but my guess is that it would have to vibrate/sway quite a bit being so elongated as it is.

Well I tried with a smaller hood first and it didn't provide a sharp enough cut-off for the beam. I want the brightest centre directed as far ahead as possible without deer-ing oncomers to the headlight. And in fact, the lower the lamp hangs, the more precise you have to be.

The lamp never even feels luke warm when I touch it so I stopped worrying about the hampered dissipation. Maybe come summer I have to cut the cover narrower; it's strenghtened with construction glue anyways.

The low mounting serves a purpose: otherwise my handlebar bag would block the light. Also, (especially since I sometimes use a head-lamp) the lower position makes for good road perception. The Topeak BarXtender does its job and I haven't noticed any vibrations or swaying at all. As a bonus I can strap the lamp on in two seconds because I never have to take the rubber mount off, instead just twitching it over the end of the bar.

The battery pack normally goes in the bag. I hate fiddling with that flimsy mounting strap - and speaking of ugly I use a random piece of foam in between the battery and the frame when riding without the bag. With the wire all over the place, straps, pices of foam, a schampoo bottle cap and some random rubber band here and there it has white trash written all over it. Butt ugly would sum it up.

Well I tried with a smaller hood first and it didn't provide a sharp enough cut-off for the beam. I want the brightest centre directed as far ahead as possible without deer-ing oncomers to the headlight. And in fact, the lower the lamp hangs, the more precise you have to be.

The lamp never even feels luke warm when I touch it so I stopped worrying about the hampered dissipation. Maybe come summer I have to cut the cover narrower; it's strenghtened with construction glue anyways.

The low mounting serves a purpose: otherwise my handlebar bag would block the light. Also, (especially since I sometimes use a head-lamp) the lower position makes for good road perception. The Topeak BarXtender does its job and I haven't noticed any vibrations or swaying at all. As a bonus I can strap the lamp on in two seconds because I never have to take the rubber mount off, instead just twitching it over the end of the bar.

The battery pack normally goes in the bag. I hate fiddling with that flimsy mounting strap - and speaking of ugly I use a random piece of foam in between the battery and the frame when riding without the bag. With the wire all over the place, straps, pices of foam, a schampoo bottle cap and some random rubber band here and there it has white trash written all over it. Butt ugly would sum it up.

Well it works for you and that is the important thing. You must have a heck of a time trying to reach the mode buttons when riding though.

Have you ever considered a small frame bag? I use a small bag on my road set-up that fits nicely between the top/head and down tube. The advantage of this kind of arrangement is that it helps free up space around the bars ( vs. a handlebar bag ) and I don't need to use a bag under the seat. It's small enough that is doesn't interfere with the water bottle too. I figure with the lamp mounted on the bars you could more easily *adjust the lamp for on-coming traffic. ( * either by tilting the lamp down or changing modes )

Anyway, if you are really concerned about cut-off for the lamp you might consider a dynamo light head. Most of the good ones are designed with cut-off in mind. Matter of fact I've been thinking of going dynamo myself for my on the road set-up but just don't have the money needed to get what I want. I don't worry too much about it though as I have good battery powered lights.

After some time using this light with a couple of other blokes around I found out that the R100 resistor likes to blow up increasing its resistance from 0.1Ohm to xyzOhms. The light seems good overall, buttons all green but it won't power on - actually it does, but the amount of current is very low rendering the leds powered off. Changing the resistor and maybe a increasing its heat dissipation makes the light work fine again. That happens more frequently on the "solarstromified" versions of the 880 clone.

K/D 2 x XML, MJ880 Clone

Originally Posted by MK96

After some time using this light with a couple of other blokes around I found out that the R100 resistor likes to blow up increasing its resistance from 0.1Ohm to xyzOhms. The light seems good overall, buttons all green but it won't power on - actually it does, but the amount of current is very low rendering the leds powered off. Changing the resistor and maybe a increasing its heat dissipation makes the light work fine again. That happens more frequently on the "solarstromified" versions of the 880 clone.

Thanks for the tip! Do you have a source you like to get new resistors from?

The reflectors have similar dimensions, 880 is OP whereas X2 is smooth. 880 should push more current to the leds. I think the throw difference is negligible. Here is my photobucket album with some lights beamshots including 880 clone and X2. The quiestion is what driver X2 uses, 880 clone uses just one type.

It is not unusual type of head: such drivers are typically included in most "all-in-one" toolbox / bit sets...

The triangular head (that fits the new Neutral White KD880 clone) might be more common outside the USA. It was not included in any of the multi-tools I've purchased previously and haven't seen it at my local big box store recently either. But then, NYC is no longer world-renowned for hardware. Could anyone here please provide a link or other reference so I can at least narrow down my search? Afraid if I just use the end of my triangular file it will abraid the finish of the screwhead.

Also, if I find I don't have to (or can't) mod the innards with thermal slugs, what options exist to otherwise compensate for the shortfall with replacement optics?